Review: Mafuku, The Elder of the Nakaema Tribe

With the release of Mafuku, Kaha miniatures are once again fleshing out the world of Oroko, A world populated by fearsome tribes of warrior creatures, Barbarians, monks and monsters.

With a mix of inspiration ranging from Chinese mythology to Norse vikings (and most recently time travellers) the universe Kaha Miniatures have created is pretty unique.

Mafuku himself is an imposing beast at 68mm, Sculpted by Cyril Roquelaine and Fancagne Didier it certainly fits the bill as the elder of the Nakaema tribe with lots of nice details such as the many scars and various jewelry or possibly trophies that adorn him.

Overall its a very nice sculpt, the body in particular looks like a lot of fun to paint, with texture that’s just right in terms of depth so it won’t hamper the brush strokes but a glaze or selective wash will still bring out the detail.

The same cannot be said for the head, which personally i find a little too heavily textured for my liking, but its nothing a seasoned figure won’t be able to fix (should they wish to, remember, this is really all down to personal taste).

All the parts fit snugly with very little in the way of gaps. However my copy did come with one side that had a small amount of mold slip (This is exactly what it sounds like, the two halves of the mold have slipped slightly, causing a ‘stepped effect’ down the mold line of the figure. ) , This could cause a problem with regards to the sculpted detail of the skin, and will be a challenge to fix without obscuring anything.

Despite the casting flaw though, it is a lovely figure, and a fitting rendition of the concept art Kaha provide with the model itself.

I say fitting, because this was reportedly the last piece of concept art created by the incredibly talented artist Wayne England before he sadly passed away earlier this year.

Almost every war gamer and Magic: The Gathering player will know of Wayne’s artwork in one form or another, including this iconic image of a Chaos Terminator from the Warhammer 40,000 universe

I’ve been a huge fan of Wayne’s work from an early age, as his iconic skulls and emblem artwork were among the first Warhammer and 40k artwork I ever saw when I was old enough to wonder what that strange ‘White Dwarf’ magazine sat in a dark corner of the local hobby shop was.